Cedar Rapids police receive nearly 500 calls for service for fireworks-related incidents

Cedar Rapids police received 477 fireworks-related calls for service between July 2 and July 5 at 7 a.m., a spokesman told The Gazette on Monday.

Calls for service peaked on the Fourth of July, when Cedar Rapids received 234 fireworks-related calls, or almost one call every six minutes.

The preliminary numbers were down from 2020, when Cedar Rapids received 587 calls for service between July 2 and July 4.

Public safety spokesman Greg Buelow said 2020 was “particularly challenging” because of the lack of public fireworks shows during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2021 numbers were well above the 290 calls for service in 2019, though.

Buelow said data about fireworks-related injuries at hospitals is not yet available.

Cedar Rapids area sees rise in fireworks-related fires

A Linn County household’s fireworks show was a little too close to home — in their garage.

The homeowner at 5810 Michael Dr. NE, Cedar Rapids, was preparing fireworks in his garage for a party and accidentally set them off Sunday afternoon, according to the Linn County Sheriff’s Office.

No one suffered injuries from the fire, according to the sheriff’s office. The fire was limited to the garage, according to the Jefferson Monroe Fire Department.

But that was far from the only fireworks-induced fire in the Cedar Rapids area over the holiday weekend.

Cedar Rapids had 10 fireworks-related fires between July 2 and July 5 at 7 a.m., a dramatic increase from the four fires between June 1 and July 8 in 2020.

Late on July 3, a port-a-potty caught fire with spent fireworks nearby, Buelow said, in what appeared to be an intentional attempt at setting the latrine ablaze.

The city responded to six pyrotechnic-related fires in a nine-hour period on the Fourth of July, which included a home’s siding on fire, children trying to light bushes on fire and a flaming trash can.

The Michael Drive NE fire Sunday afternoon was one of three fires in the three-day period from fireworks igniting in garages.

Injuries outside Cedar Rapids

Outside of the Cedar Rapids area, one person died and three others were hospitalized at Adventureland Park in Altoona after a raft on the “Raging River” ride overturned Saturday, according to the Associated Press and the park’s Facebook page.

That same day, one person died and three others were injured in Slater when a 75-year-old woman backed her car into a crowd of pedestrians during the Story County community’s Independence Day parade.

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